But there was fury from Labour figures as the party still lost councillors - the first time in recent memory that's happened in a leader's first year - despite opposing "the most right-wing Tory government ever".

And results north of the border looked appalling as Labour lost more than a dozen members of the Scottish Parliament.

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"We should be doing a lot better. They're attacking disabled people, they're attacking trade unionists, they're attacking those in social housing and many other injustices from this government.

"We should be making enormous gains as a Labour party . WE haven't done as badly as many of Jeremy Corbyn's critics predicted but frankly, we're not doing well enough."

Other highlights on a dramatic night of polls across Britain included:

The "Lib Dem fightback" began as the party gained two Holyrood seats from the SNP and massively boosted their vote share in Orkney and Shetland.

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood scored a shock Welsh Assembly result by snatching the Rhondda seat from Labour’s Leighton Andrews. Labour was set to dip below its total of half the seats on the Welsh Assembly.

Ukip's claims it would sweep aside Labour in swathes of Wales came to nothing. The party had no constituency seats with just 5 left to declare - though it was set to pick up about 3 through proportional representiation. Ukip did gain at least 20 English council seats.

Labour won its two Westminster by-elections comfortably in Ogmore and Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough. In the latter, cancer victim MP Harry Harpham’s widow Gill Furniss increased his vote share by 5%.

How the night unfolded

Midnight

Labour made some early gains in its strongholds, mainly at the expense of the Lib Dems. The party bagged extra seats in Newcastle, South Tyneside and Sunderland .

But already Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell was signalling it would be a bad result - and a leaked script he wrote for MPs to quote from about the party facing a 'long, hard fight back' confirmed that. It claimed the last elections in 2012 were a 'high point' at the time of the Omnishambles Tory Budget.

First signs emerged that the Lib Dems would have a good night in Scotland when they held the Orkney Islands with a massive swing from the SNP . They later held Shetland too with a similar vote share boost of 10%.

1am

(Image: Jeff J Mitchell)

The Tories gained three seats from Labour out of 15 the party was defending in swing town Nuneaton, long been given as an example of which way the wind’s blowing. It was defeat there last year that showed just how bad things were going for Ed Miliband.

But Labour was given a boost in the Essex commuter town of Harlow - key to tapping into so-called White Van Man. Ukip made no in-roads and the Tories made no gains, despite fears about Jeremy Corbyn 's appeal in the Home Counties.

After 21 councils were declared in England Labour was holding up, making net losses of just 1 council seat out of 222.

2am

New MP Gill Furniss increased her late husband's vote share for Labour

Labour suffered its second dismal swing to the SNP in Scotland. It lost nearly 10% of the vote share in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse - hot on the heels of losing 11% of the vote in Rutherglen.

The scale of Labour's struggle in Scotland became clear as the party lost Eastwood in a shock result - not to the SNP but to the Tories.

In England, however, it became clear the warnings of 100 lost seats wouldn't materialise. And widow Gill Furniss replaced her husband Harry Harpham as an MP in Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough - increasing his vote share.

She said: "The people of Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough have sent David Cameron an emphatic message.

“We’ve had enough of your unfair government. We’ve had enough of your Tory cuts that have hit areas like Sheffield so much more than affluent areas.”

3am

(Image: Jeff J Mitchell)

South of the border, there was more tentative good news for Labour. With nearly 50 councils declared the party had lost just 15 seats out of more than 400, not the apocalypse many predicted.

The good news was focused in southern swing towns where it was claimed, wrongly it seems, that Jeremy Corbyn 's name would be mud. Labour held Crawley , snatching a seat from the Tories despite having a majority of just 1. And in Southampton Labour kept its majority of two despite a Westminster seat going to the Tories last year.

But north of the border things were looking very grim indeed. The party lost its fourth seat with just 25 declared as Cowdenbeath - which belonged to deputy Scottish leader Alex Rowley - went to the SNP .

4am

(Image: Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

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The scale of the Lib Dem fightback became clear as the party scored two massive victories in Scotland - seizing Fife North East and Edinburgh Western from the SNP.

But aside from seizing four Green seats in studenty Norwich, there was little solace for Labour. The party lost its first council of the night (to No Overall Control) after the Tories snatched four seats in Dudley, West Midlands.

And Labour's situation in Scotland went from bad to worse as Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, who won a sensational victory from the SNP in Edinburgh Central, hinted her party would become the official opposition in Holyrood.

5am

Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood dealt Labour a body blow - seizing the Rhondda seat on the Welsh Assembly. She said: "A new dawn is about to break in Wales. Here in the Rhondda a new dawn has already broken over the Valleys, people have voted for change.”

Ukip - which still failed to have any Welsh constituencies with just six left to declare - had a rare moment of the sun in Thurrock. It gained six seats on the Essex council, trouncing Labour who lost four.

A Labour politician got the single biggest mandate of the night as Joe Anderson was re-elected as Mayor of Liverpool. But he had a smaller vote share after a huge surge by the Lib Dems.